ANALYSIS – While the American Left instinctively calls much of the Right ‘Putin apologists' following the debunked Trump-Russia-collusion narrative, most conservative Republicans are as hawkish on Russia and ‘Vlad the Invader' as anyone.
Possibly more so.
Recall it was Barack Obama along with feckless VP Joe Biden, who allowed Putin to invade Ukraine in 2014 – after mocking Republican Mitt Romney for saying Russia was a major threat. President Biden also refrained from aggressively arming Ukraine more recently prior to Putin's current invasion.
Biden also essentially gave Putin a green light when he absurdly promised publicly that he would not send U.S. troops to defend Ukraine, overturning a long-held strategic rule never to publicly rule out any options in the face of threats.
But that doesn't mean some on the Right don't come across as soft on Putin. Of course, Donald Trump's inability to personally call out Putin comes to mind, even though Team Trump's policies were tougher on Russia than his predecessors. Something I documented here.
And then there's Tucker Carlson of Fox News.
While Tucker has recently criticized Putin's invasion, for some reason he has also become the go-to guy for pro-Russian propaganda, going so far last week as embracing an unproven conspiracy theory pushed by Russia that Ukraine and the U.S. were developing bioweapons in the besieged eastern European country.
This is something ADN has reported is likely a Kremlin false flag operation and pretext for potential Russian chemical weapons use. Tucker also appeared to attack his Fox News colleague, Jennifer Griffin, for objecting to that theory.
Russian state media quickly picked up Tucker's bioweapons claim comments.
It therefore does not surprise me that the far-left Mother Jones magazine reports the Russian government is instructing media outlets to use more clips of Fox News host Tucker Carlson criticizing the United States and defending Russia for its war against Ukraine.
And I don't doubt that it could be true.
Mother Jones reportedly obtained a document called “For Media and Commentators,” which was allegedly one of several memos from Russia's Department of Information and Telecommunications Support.
The Russian-language memos, who were reportedly provided by “a contributor to a national Russian media outlet who asked not to be identified,” allegedly say that:
It is essential to use as much as possible fragments of broadcasts of the popular Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who sharply criticizes the actions of the United States [and] NATO, their negative role in unleashing the conflict in Ukraine, [and] the defiantly provocative behavior from the leadership of the eastern countries and NATO towards the Russian Federation and towards President Putin, personally.
The memo also notes Tucker's position that “Russia is only protecting its interests and security,” and includes a Tucker quote asking: “How would the U.S. behave if such a situation developed in neighboring Mexico or Canada?”
Tucker's guests, such as retired Army Colonel Doug Macgregor, a Trump appointee who frequently overestimates Russian military prowess, and Russia's strength overall, add to the pro-Russia messaging.
MacGregor famously said the U.S. should simply let Russia take over Ukraine, earning a sharp retort from Fox News' Jennifer Griffin.
The Hill reported on his defeatist, pro-Russian commentary:
When pressed on if he believes Russia should not be sanctioned and should be allowed to invade and annex Ukraine, Macgregor said, “Yes, absolutely.”
“I see no reasons why we should fight with the Russians over something that they have been talking about for years, we simply chose to ignore it,” he said. “We will not send our forces to fight, but we are urging Ukrainians to die pointlessly in a fight they can't win. We're going to create a far greater humanitarian crisis than anything you've ever seen if it doesn't stop.”
Griffin, a veteran correspondent who has covered defense and diplomatic issues for years, shot down Macgregor's assertion when she appeared on the same program minutes later.
“There were so many distortions in what he just said,” Griffin said. “To blame NATO membership for what we've seen Putin unleash and what we've seen from Putin himself he is talking in Tsarist words … what he just said was so distorted that I do feel that our audience needs to know the truth.”
On this issue, I think Tucker and MacGregor are way off – and I'm with Griffin. Please stop being Putin stooges.
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The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
